Creme Fraiche Pasta With Peas and Asparagus

We made a modified (Nadia friendlier) version of this.  Our version tossed in some blanched asapargus and peas.

Original Recipe

===========

Boil water for 1 lb medium shells (or other shape).  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water when done and drained.

Trim ~12 oz (3 bunches) scallions.  Thinly slice 1 or 2 on the diagonal.  Cut the others into 1/2" pieces.

Heat 2 Tbsp oil.  Season scallion pieces with salt and pepper.  Stir occasionally for 6-8 min until they start to caramelize (soften and brown in spots). 

In a large bowl, add 1 Tbsp oil, 1 C parm, 3/4 C creme fraiche, and zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp).  Add 1/2 cup of the resere hot pasta water and stir until sauce is smooth.  Stir in charred scallions.

When pasta is done, add peas to the water, turn off the heat, drain pasta and peas together, and add them to the sauce in the large bowl.  Toss to combine, adding more reserve pasta water as necessary for sauce texture.

Ingredients

3 bunches scallions, 1 lb shells, 1 cup parm, 3/4 cup creme fraiche, 1 lemon zested, 1 c frozen peas.

=======================

We did it without the scallions and with asparagus.  Overall, smaller pasta shapes are better and I thought just blanching the asparagus was the wrong taste.  I'd prefer just pan frying it on the side.

BUT the Creme Fraiche sauce was GREAT.  It was rich with a velvety texture very different from our normal white sauce.  The lemon was just the right amount.

Variation:  Use bay shrimp and stir-fried dark greens with garlic tossed in instead of the green peas.

Recipe for stir-fried dark greens.  Recipe is as written above, but add bay shrimp at the end (like the peas) and drain with the pasta.  Stir in the dark greens to the pasta + sauce.

I think the trick here is going to be ensuring the dark greens are the right size after being cooked.  We don't want big globs, but we don't want small little bits.  Maybe give the greens a rough chop after cooking?